It's been three months since came out. Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto.

As was predictable, many scholars and those interested in the subject have dismissed it out of prejudice, without even taking a look at it. This article is addressed to all of them. In it I am going to present some “strong points” of my theory, which are not really the most important, but may indicate that it has solid foundations. To do this, I am going to highlight some passages from the work, citing them appropriately; and I will also cite the sources on which I base myself to reach these conclusions.

1. The true identity of Christopher Columbus

Francisco José Morales Roca reveals the name of Christopher Columbus in his note on Francisco Juan de Colom y de Bertran (Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto, page 31)

“Priest of Barcelona. Archdeacon of Vallés (1460-1472) [...]. He had relations with María de la Cavallería, niece of Antonio de la Cavallería, priest of Gerona, and Bernardo de la Cavallería, Abbot of Sant Pere de Galligans, from whom he had a bastard son, Juan Cristóbal de Colom, donzell of Barcelona, domestic of King Don Pedro IV of Portugal, Constable of Portugal and Grand Master of the Order of Avis, during his intrusive government, having provided services as a privateer to King Don Renato I of Anjou. Likewise during his intrusive government.”

Source: Prelados, abades mitrados, dignidades capitulares y caballeros de las órdenes militares habilitados por el brazo eclesiástico en las Cortes del Principado de Cataluña. Dinastías de Trastámara y de Austria. Siglos xv y xvi (1410-599). Hidalguía, 1999. Tomo I, página 156.

In his notes Francisco José Morales Roca provides specific data that relate this Juan Cristóbal Colón with the historical Christopher Columbus, such as the dates of his birth and death (1436 and 1506, respectively) and his service to René of Anjou . On a separate line (later crossed out) he writes “Discoverer of America.” The aforementioned researcher publicly denied the slightest connection between said character and the historical Columbus.

Francisco José Morales Roca's notes on the last name Colom (year 2021). Source: Andreu Marfull.

Fernando Colón, in his History of the Admiral (chapter I), seems to note in an encrypted way the true name of his father: Juan Cristóbal Colón (Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto, page 126):

“To the common surname or nickname of his elders, we will say that he truly was Colombo, or Palomo, in that he brought the grace of the Holy Spirit to that New World that he discovered, showing according to that in the baptism of Saint John the Baptist the Holy Spirit in the figure of dove showed that he was the beloved son of God, who was not known there [...] and then, if we want to reduce his name to the Latin pronunciation, which is Christophorus Colonus, we will say that just as it is said that Saint Christopher had that name because he passed Christ through the depth of the waters with so much danger, for which he was called Christopher, and just as he carried and brought people, who another person was not enough to pass them, so the Admiral, who was Christopher Columbus, asking Christ for his help [...] he and his ministers passed, so that those Indian people would become colonists and inhabitants of the triumphant Church of heaven."

Saint John, Saint  Christopher and Colonus. If we add the two names and the surname, we will obtain the true identity of the Admiral: Joan Cristòfor Colom.

Fernando Colón, in his Historia del Almirante (chapter I) also reveals the coat of arms of his ancestors: “And because over the waters of the Ocean he also carried [Columbus] like Noah's dove, olive […]” .

A dove flying over the sea with the olive branch in its beak is the coat of arms of the Colom of the Balearic Islands and Catalonia (Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto, page 68). But we also find it in the coat of arms of the Casanova of Gravedona (Lombardy, Italy).

Sources: a) Augusto Cuartas: Apellidos Catalanes. Heráldica de Cataluña. b) Spreti: Enciclopedia Storico-Nobiliare Italiana. c) García Carraffa, A y A. d) Fernando Colón: Historia del Almirante.

There is clear evidence of the identity of Christopher Columbus-Joan Cristòfor Colom: the latter's tonsure on June 19, 1451, as we see in a note kept in the Museu Diocesà de Girona (Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto, page 526 ):

“Also on said June 19 of the aforementioned year, the Reverend Christ the Father, Lord Bernat, bishop of Girona, in the chamber of the 'parament major' of his episcopal palace, personally constituted, tonsured a scholar, written below:

Joan Colom, a native of the diocese of Girona, with a dispensation for his birth defect that he suffers from having been born to a priest and a servant [according to another interpretation, 'single'].

The witnesses are: Honorable Joan Margarit, gentleman domiciled in the parish of Sant Gregori and the discreet Antoni Cavallaria, priest, and Gaspar Rovirola, notary, inhabitants of Girona."

Source: Joan Villar Torrent (Museu Diocesà de Girona). Francesc Albardaner published it in the magazine Presència (Girona, 23-29 de junio de 1991).

His ecclesiastical studies would explain his good knowledge of Latin, as well as his expert knowledge of the Bible, as demonstrated in his writings, including his Book of Prophecies. As far as the Latin letters are concerned, on page 201 of Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto, I state the following:

"Let us remember what Las Casas said: 'He studied in Pavia the first rudiments of letters, mainly grammar, and became well versed in the Latin language, and of this it is praised by said Portuguese History, saying that he was eloquent and a good Latin.' And by Francisco López de Gomara in Historia General de las Indias: 'Others also want, let's say it all, that Christopher Columbus was a good Latin and cosmographer.' The evidence of his fluent knowledge of Latin is very abundant. For example, we have already seen that he ‘annotated, understanding well the meaning of Renaissance Latin, the work Historia rerum of Pope Pius II’ (see above). On the other hand, there are numerous quotes from him, in the account of the third voyage, from Latin authors not translated at the end of the 15th century: Saint Ambrose, Saint Isidore, Bede, Scotus, etc. And if this were not enough to certify his knowledge of Latin, we must mention his Latin apostilles, in works such as the Imago Mundi by Pierre d'Ailly, or the Historia Rerum by Aeneas Silvio Piccolomini."

At another point I deal with his knowledge of Hebrew, both the language and the calendar.

2. The true last name of Columbus

Christopher Columbus' real last name was not Colombo, but Colom. And this for a plausible reason: the Castilianization of Colombo is Colombo; Colom's is Colón, as I explain in Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 123):

"According to Caius Parellada in Castilla it is normal to convert 'm' into 'n'. Thus the Catalan Joaquim becomes Joaquín, the Catalan Adam is Adán, the Catalan Guillem is Guillén, etc. The same would happen with Colom, who becomes Colón. However, and recognizing that there is a phonetic law that transforms the Catalan 'm' into Spanish 'n', the same cannot be said of Colombo: in Spanish, Colombo would also be Colombo, and if it had been translated, it would adopt the expression 'Pigeon'. In short, both Colón and Colomo make sense if they derive from the Catalan Colom, but not if they come from the Italian Colombo. Thus, Columbus's original surname would be Colom (which would give rise to the Castilianization 'Colomo', and later to 'Colón').”

In the Castilian Court Columbus was called Colomo, Colom and Colón interchangeably. There are numerous documents that attest that his real surname was Colom. Here are a few:

Left, Codice Diplomatico Colombo-Americano. Right, Columbus' coat of arms according to Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo. Note “Colom”.

In Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 125) I write the following:

“But it is in three real letters where it is most evident that Columbus's family name was really Colom. We will find them in the Codice Diplomatico Colombo-Americano. In the first (document XXXI, page 206), dated March 30, 1493 (that is, when Columbus was on his way to Barcelona, to meet with the kings, after the completion of his first trip to the Indies), the sovereigns call him 'Don Cristoval Colom, our Admiral of the sea and ocean'. In another letter, dated May 24, 1493 (document XXXVI, page 220) we read: 'To you Don Cristoval Colom our Admiral of our islands and the mainland'. And in a last letter, dated April 14, 1494 (document XXXIV, page 210) the kings say: 'Don Cristoval Colom our Admiral of the ocean sea and our Viso King and governor of the islands [...]'.

But it is in his letter to the ration notary, Luis de Santangel, where his true surname is most clearly stated. Strangely, Consuelo Varela (Cristóbal Colón. Complete texts and documents, page 146) does not include in the aforementioned letter to Santángel the final colophon, which reads: “This Letter was sent by Colom to the escriuano de racion [...]”. Here, as we see, Columbus appears in the Catalan form of him: Colom.

Source: Lenox foundation, New York Public Library.

3. Columbus' mother tongue, Catalan

In the letter to Santángel, from the year 1493, we have a clear example that Columbus used the Catalan language: his barbarism “calavera” (meaning “caravel”; this is how Consuelo Varela transcribes it in her compilation of Columbian texts). “Calavera” is the way in which the ship that in Spanish was called “caravel” was expressed in Catalan (this information was given to me by the researcher Manuel Capdevila):

Source: Lenox foundation, New York Public Library.

It is not the only case. In Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 209) I present a few more:

“The Catalan expressions of Columbus are very numerous, and very evident. Thus we have, for example, the 'a todos arreo' (a tot arreu in Catalan), with the meaning 'everywhere', which he writes in the Memorial for the Catholic Monarchs of 1494; See also 'todo de golpe' (tot de cop in Catalan), which means 'suddenly', in the account of the Third Voyage. Or, finally, in his Book of Prophecies, 'despues tornarlas a rever', equivalent to the Catalan tornar-les a reveure (to see them again)."

The most obvious example of Columbus's Catalan identity is Fernando Colón's note of the aforementioned letter from his father to the notary of ration, Luis de Santángel (see above). In Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 396) I write the following: “In the manuscript with index 4743, on page 369 of Abecedarium B of the Columbian Library, we find the following annotation: 'Letter sent to the escriva de racio [sic .], to 1493, in Catalan, 4743'. The letter itself has disappeared. We only have this annotation left by Fernando Colón." Note that “escrivà de ració” (ration clerk) is written in Catalan, which confirms that said letter was originally written in that same language.

Source: Miquel Manubens, sent by Manel Capdevila.

4. So, what relationship did Columbus have with the Genoese Colombos?

In the first two chapters of the work (up to page 213) I was in charge of demonstrating that Columbus had no relationship with the Genoese Colombos. That his name, and that of his brother Bartolome, coincided with that of Cristoforo and Bartolomeo Colombo is a purely circumstantial coincidence. That of Giacomo Colombo does not have to coincide with that of Diego Columbus, since the Italian Giacomo is equivalent to the Castilian Diego, Jaime, Jacobo, Santiago or Iago, all of them very common. Nor is it a clear coincidence that Giovanni Colombo had an equivalent, among the Colones, called Juan Antonio Colombo (Colón, or Casanova, as we will see below), among other things because his brother was called Andrea, and Giovanni's brothers names (of the Colombo family) were Tommaso, Matteo and Amighetto.

On the other hand (Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto, page 66), Giovanni Colombo was, in February 1500, working as a tax agent in Genoa (that was his profession), while Juan Antonio Colombo, only two months Later (in April), was in Seville carrying out supply tasks for the Indies fleet:

“It seems that in April of the year 1500, only two months after he was supposedly in Quinto (Genoa) to carry out cadastral work, we found Juan Antonio Colombo in Spain, preparing a 'freight of 50 Frenchmen' to the Indies. He had to run a lot to make both activities compatible, if it is the same person."

As we will see in the book, the relationship between the Colones and the French is ancient, and not insignificant.

We find proof in favor of the impossibility of the Colones being the Genoese Colombos in the Testament of Christopher Columbus, dated 1498. It says:

“[...] and the closest relative succeeds the person who inherited it, in whose power it expired, being a legitimate man who is called and has always been called by his father or ancestors, those of Colón.”

In Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 30) I explain that if the Colones were really the Colombos, Cristóbal, and his sons Fernando and Diego, would have had little trouble finding the trail of their relatives: the “de Colón” (if these were really the Colombos):

“His son Fernando made several explorations through Liguria to find his family. According to Enrique Bayerri (page 100)  took place the following years: in 1515 (January), in 1529 (September), in 1530 (December) and in 1531 (January). As is well known, the search for his family roots was fruitless. However, when Colón had been in Spain for at least six years, his brother Diego (if it is Giacomo Colombo), continued carding wool in Savona (it is recorded that he resided there until at least November 1491). Thus, Fernando Colón would hardly have made much effort to find 'the house of the Columbus' in Liguria (if this were the house of the Colombos). On the other hand, in case Christopher Columbus wanted to keep a house in Genoa, as noted in the Testament of 1498, why not go to his supposed sister Bianchinetta Colombo, who resided in that city until 1516, when she died at 52 years of age?”

On page 88 I go into this last question in more depth:

“It is true that the Colombos were dispossessed of their house in burgo Sancti Stephani, in Genoa, on March 31, 1492, but their neighbor Juan de Padavania continued to live there for decades. Could Fernando or Diego, their sons, not be able to having tracked down his aunt through the neighbor? Note that Fernando Colón visited the city in 1515, and found no trace of his ancestors, 'los de Colón'. If these had been the Colombos, wouldn't he have located them?"

It has also been argued that the proof of his filiation to the Colombo Genoese is his contact, visible in his will of 1506, with the Spínola, Di Negro and Centurione families:

“To the heirs of Luys Centurión Escoto, Genoese merchant, thirty thousand reales of Portugal [...] To those same heirs and to the heirs of Pablo de Negro Genoese, one hundred ducats or their value [...]. To Bautista Espindola or his heirs, if he is dead, twenty ducats. This Bautista Espindola is the son-in-law of the aforementioned Luis Centurión, he was the son of Micer Niculao Espindola [...]”.

According to the Genoese, the debts to them (and to Benito del Puerto) were related to the businesses of Domenico Colombo, Cristóbal's father, and of the latter, with the aforementioned individuals; although in the Assereto document of 1479 Cristoforo Colombo is cited as a witness, and he is not accused of any embezzlement to the detriment of Luis Centurión or Pablo de Negro. In my book I provide abundant evidence to demonstrate that such evidence is more circumstantial than real. One of them, that Colón's “conscience” with the Spínola, Di Negro and Centurión has to do with an event that I will have the opportunity to talk about below: the battle of Cabo de San Vicente, in the year 1476, in which these three families were harmed. In Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 165) I write the following:

“In 1474 there is an expedition [to Chios] of the ship Roxana of Godoffredo Spinola, and a whaler of Nicolò Spinola; In another Genoese expedition to Chios, in 1475, we found ships of Nicolò Spinola and Paolo di Nero.”

These Genoese ships, bound for Chios, were piloted by Nicolò Spínola and Paolo di Nero, mentioned in Columbus' will of 1506. They transported mastic destined for Flanders and England, where Luis Centurión Scotus (also cited in the will of 1506 ) had branches of his company. The mastic lost in the battle of Cape San Vicente in 1476, and the hundreds of lives that were also lost, weighed on the conscience of Christopher Columbus, not some ridiculous sums owed by his father, or by himself, to Benito del Puerto , or to the Centurione, Di Negro and Spínola (page 170):

“Luis Centurión Scoto traded with Bruges and London, places where the seven boxes of mastic that were lost in the battle of Cape San Vicente were destined. In this regard, see Chapter 3, where I will speak at length about Columbus' ties with the Centurión, the Spinola, the Di Negro and the Pinelo, and all of these among themselves and with Spain."

What's more, the person responsible for this trade, promoted by the Maona of Chios and the Banco di San Giorgio, was a Casanova: Jacobo Casanova. According to my theory, this would be connected with the Casanovas of France, those of Lombardy, and those of the kingdom of Aragon. Specifically, Jacobo Casanova could actually be a Bertran. I will talk about this in the next point.

One more thing. There was a small connection between the Colones and the Colombos. In the year 1496, Cristoforo Colombo's cousins (Giannetto, Matteo and Amighetto) sent a letter to the Colón family, then residing in Seville, asking if they were their relatives, because Cristoforo, Bartolomeo and Giacomo had disappeared and they did not know their whereabouts:

On page 257 of the Città di Genova it says:

“There are no specific documents to be able to certify that Giannetto Colombo's expedition was effectively completed. But in the aforementioned Memorial del Pleyto it is read that among Columbus's papers, which in 1565 were still kept in the monastery of Las Cuevas in Seville, there was no. 1178 of the inventory 'a letter from the Colombo of Genoa' addressed to the Admiral, and marked as follows: 'Letter from 'I Colombo' to the first admiral, dated in Genoa, the year one thousand four hundred and ninety-six', the same year therefore of the agreement concluded between Cristoforo's three cousins."

This letter, duly filtered (and opportunely lost, in the same way as the letter in Catalan from Christopher Columbus to Luis de Santángel), could have created the legend of the Genoese Columbus, son of Domenico, which already in the Admiral's time spread, both in Spain as in the Indies, to benefit the geostrategic interests of Castile, which was favored by the fact that the navigator was of Ligurian origin, not Catalan.

5. The Casanovas, the “Colones” that Christopher Columbus refers to in his will?

In the Admiral's time, the called Casanova, who pirated and sailed under the French flag, were known as "the Colones", as Jerónimo Zurita states (Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto, page 148):

“Zurita called a famous pirate, Guillermo Casanova Colón, simply 'Colón'. Thus he writes: 'Notice came from Hondarrabia that Columbus—captain of the King of France's navy—had arrived on the coast' (year 1476), or 'And Columbus, with the French navy, arriving at Bermeo, experienced a great storm, and lost the flagship [...]' (year 1476). Zurita calls Colón (Guillermo Casanova Colón) 'captain of the king of France', and associates him with the 'French navy'."

We find evidence of this in a Catalan circular, dated 1473, in which the said Guillermo Casanova Colón is referred to by the name Colom (Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto, page 149):

“Avís de un cossari apellat Colom qui menave VII naus armades, en data del 3 d’octubre del 1473” (notice from a privateer named Colom, who carried VII armed ships, dated October 3, 1473).

This notice reads like this:

“Los Consols de la mar de la ciutat de Barchinona als molt honorables tots e sengles batles, jurats e prohomens de qualsevol viles, Castells e lo­chs de la costa de Lauant fins a Cadaquers inclusive [...]. Vostres sauieses certificam per letra del honorable en Luis Marti mercader de Valencia a XXVIIII del passsat hauem noua certa com per un correu rebut per los ju­rats de Valencia havien sabut, com un Cossari apellat Colom ab VII Naus armades es arribat a Lacant [Alicante]; son les Naus dues Naus de M botes cascuna Tres de DCC botes cascuna e Dos balaners qui voguen com a ga­leres qui han donat cassa a les galeres del Comte de Prades e les han cuydat metre a fons. Creuse lo dit cossari fará la volta de assí e així discorrerá tota la costa e totes les mars [...]."

Source: Francesc Carreras i Candi. “Colom i altres corsaris, atacant les costes catalanes (1473-1474)”. Butlletí del Centre Excursionista de Catalunya, year XXXVII, july 1927. Number 386.

In my book I maintain that the Casanovas of Genoa were actually Bertrans, as evidence that the coat of arms of the former is a “brisura” (a modification made by a collateral branch of the family) of that of the latter, as we can see in the following image:

Left, coat of arms of the Bertran of Barcelona and the Beltrán of Aragón. Right, coat of arms of the Casanova of Genoa.

This connection between the Catalan Bertrans and the Casanovas of Genoa, as well as those of Lombardy, would be given because a Casanova house can be found on the properties of the Bertrans of Gelida, as stated by the chronicler of Gelida, Ramon Rovira (Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto, page 484):

“Near Gelida there was a mas called 'The House of Casanova', documented as early as 1197, which belonged to the castlans of the lords of Gelida (the Cervelló). Later we found here the mas of Can Castany and La Ferreria. They are located in the so-called Puig de Casanova, according to Ramon Rovira.”

It is also notable that the “capostipite” (genearch) of the Casanova of Como (in Lombardy) was called Beltrame. And let us remember (see above) that the coat of arms of the Casanova of Gravedona, in Como, includes a flying dove with an olive branch in its beak, the emblem of the Colom of Mallorca and Arenys de Mar, which Fernando Colón describes in the chapter I of his History of the Admiral.

In the figure below we can see that the Jacobo Casanova mentioned in the documents of the Maona of Chios, resident in Genoa, could be Jacobo Bertran, mentioned in the will of Ferrer Bertran (from 1444), resident in Genoa, as stated by the historian Claude Carrère in her book Barcelone, centre économique à l'époque des difficultés:

“Au milieu du XV siècle, les Bertran, juifs convers déjà implantés à Majorque et à Valence, envoient l’un des leurs habiter Gênes [Génova]: il s’agit de Jacme, ex-citoyen de Valence, mais dont le fils Johan est citoyen de Barcelone, où résident également Leonard et Ferrer”.

The researcher Manuel Güell also alludes to the important role of Jaime Bertran in the Catalan colony of Genoa and Rhodes (Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto, page 482):

"Would Jacme, who moved to Genoa, be the same 'Jacobo' mentioned in the will of Ferrarius Bertran, dated 1444? Be that as it may, Manuel Güell assures that said 'intruder' family belonged to the 'important permanent colony of Catalan merchants on the island of Rhodes, where they carried out their own commercial activity independent of the metropolis, in close relationship with the Hospital [Saint John of Jerusalem] [...]”.

Sources: On top, testament of Ferrer Bertran (1444). On the bottom, Antonella Rovere, “Documenti della Maona di Chio”.

Genealogy of the Bertran of Barcelona and Gelida.

Another, quite convincing, indication of the link between the Casanovas (of Como) and those of the Crown of Aragon is found on the first page of the Memoirs of Giacomo Casanova (the Libertine). This one says like this:

“Don Jacob Casanova, born in Zaragoza, capital of Aragon, natural son of Don Francisco, kidnapped Doña Ana Palafox from the convent in the year 1428, the day after she had professed. He was secretary of King Don Alfonso; He escaped with her to Rome, where, after a year of imprisonment, Pope Martin III relieved Anne of her vows and under the protection of Don Juan Casanova, master of the sacred palace and uncle of Don Jacob, granted them the nuptial blessing. All the children born of this marriage died at a young age, except for Don Juan, who in 1475 married Doña Leonor Albini, from whom he had a son named Marco Antonio. In 1481, Don Juan having killed an officer of the King of Naples, was forced to leave Rome and escaped to Como with his wife and children, but wanting to try his fortune he set out on a voyage with Christopher Columbus and died in 1495. Marco Antonio became a good poet, in the manner of Martial, and was secretary of Cardinal Pompeyo Colonna. Being forced to leave Rome because of the satire against Julius de' Medici, which is read among his poems, he returned to Como, where he married Abondia Rezzonica."

In the book Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto, there is an exhaustive follow-up of the Bertrans and the Casanovas, both the Catalans and the Italians.

6. But specifically, what relationship did Columbus have with the Bertrans and the Casanovas?

Este punto es crucial en mi teoría. Véase la siguiente figura:

Family tree of the Colom, the Bertran, the Margarit, and other collateral families.

Here we can observe the affiliation of Joan Cristòfor Colom, son of Francesc Colom i Bertran, with the Bertrans, and therefore, with Pere Bertran Margarit, the “Pedro Margarite” of the second Columbian expedition. In Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 514) I write the following:

“Joan Bertran, a soldier, in his will (dated in the year 1499), had as executor of his will Guillem Joan Colom, uncle of Joan Cristòfor Colom (our Columbus). This makes it highly probable that the latter, who lived in Girona around 1451 (as the document of his tonsure points out), could personally know the family of Pere Margarit Bertran (born around the year 1450 and who lived a few kilometers away, in Castell d'Empordà). Which, in turn, would explain why he recruited him as military leader of the second expedition to the Indies. Can we say the same about Cristoforo Colombo?”

Source: Testament of Joan Bertran (1499). Above, allusion to Guillem Joan Colom, executor of the deceased. Below, allusion to Pere Bertran Margarit, son of Joan Bertran (see genealogy, above).

The coat of arms of Christopher Columbus is well known. It is not so much so, however, that this could actually be a “brisura” from the Bertran of Barcelona. In Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 405) I write the following:

“There has been much speculation about the possible origin of this coat of arms, which according to conventional opinion is 'imaginary'. However, if we take into account the links of Joan Cristòfor Colom with the lineages of the Catalan Bertran and the Italian and French Casanova, this interpretation is hasty to say the least. See the coat of arms of the Bertran of Barcelona. This is, according to the García Carraffa brothers: 'In a field of azure, a band of gold, charged with a quote of gules'. Note the similarities with Columbus's shield. Let us remember: 'in a field of gold, azure band with gules chief'. The colors are the same, although exchanged, and the design is similar: in the Bertran of Barcelona shield, red is in the quote; in Columbus's, in the 'chief'; blue, in the first case, in the background, and in the second, in the band; yellow, in the first case, on the band, and in the second, in the background. Thus, Columbus's coat of arms would actually be a 'brisura' of that of the Bertrans of Barcelona; Let it all be said, he gave a good crop of admirals to the Catalan navy (which would explain the anchors on his coat of arms).

Left, coat of arms of Christopher Columbus. Right, coat of arms of the Bertran of Barcelona, according to the armorial of the Garcia Carraffa.

7. Is it true that Columbus had several admirals in his family?

In Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 407) I write the following:

“From my point of view […] Columbus was related to the Bertrans of Gelida and Barcelona, as he was also related to the Casanovas of Genoa, Lombardy and France. This brings him closer, once again, to Joan Cristòfor Colom. We find evidence of this in the quarter of the five gold anchors on an azure field, which we find in his shield from 1502 (Book of Privileges). If, as García de la Riega supposes, these anchors represent the admirals that - according to Columbus - the family has had ('I am not the first admiral of my family'), here again we have a fundamental point of coincidence between the trajectories of Cristóbal Colón and Joan Cristòfor Colom, since the latter had at least four relatives who held the title of admiral, or vice admiral."

These would be the following:

Guillermo Casanova Colón, vice admiral of King Louis XI of France.

Joan Colom i Bertran (1414-?), admiral.

Antoni Bertran (Cortes 1446, 1449, 1454 and 1460), Baron of Gelida, royal advisor, vice-admiral of the Royal Navy of the Principality of Catalonia.

Jaume Bertran (Cortes, 1460), royal advisor, vice-admiral of the Royal Navy of the Principality of Catalonia.

Francesc Betran (-1417), Royal Camerlengo and Admiral, according to Armand de Fluvià, in his Nobiliari General Català.

And this, without counting the Admiral of the Ocean Sea (and Viceroy of the Indies) himself.

Columbus's coat of arms, both 1493 and 1502, includes five anchors, representing five admirals of his family.

There is a very revealing circumstance about his family's seafaring activity. See the following illustration:

Graffiti located in the House of the Lord of Gelida, belonging to the Bertran family. Alfred Mauri: El Castell de Gelida.

The seafaring inclination of the Coloms is indicated by Fernando Colón in Historia del Almirante (chapter II), who states:

“I say that although they [Christopher Columbus's ancestors] were good in virtue, having been due to wars and partialities and poverty, I cannot find what way they lived and dwelt, although the said Admiral says in a letter that their treatment and that of their elders was always by sea.”

If their ancestors were the Catalan Colom, they had a certain link with the sea. Enric Mitjana de las Doblas, as Francisco José Morales Roca would later do, considers that the Coloms of Barcelona came from Genoa. In Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 468) I write the following:

“But be that as it may, not only Morales Roca, but also other authors, have established a certain relationship between Guillem Colom and the city of Genoa. Enric Mitjana de las Doblas, in his article 'La casa dels Colom a Barcelona', tells us that Guillem Colom was in Alghero (Sardinia) in the year 1390, and that he had to leave the island due to an uprising by the Sardinians, urged by the Genoese. He then moved to Barcelona. His son, Guillem Ramon Colom, called Guillem the Younger, was a money changer, or banker, like his father. In 1390 he was in Genoa, from where he left on a ship he owned towards Barcelona. He arrived here on September 12.'”

It is a fact that the Coloms, as well as the Bertrans, had businesses, and even a home, in Genoa, as well as on the island of Rhodes. Claude Carrière (see above) maintains this, as far as the Bertrans are concerned (by mentioning Jaime Bertran, resident in Genoa). As far as the Coloms are concerned, there is a document that clearly confirms it (Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto, page 475):

“We have documentary evidence that attests to the Coloms' relationship with Genoa and Rhodes. This is an agreement between Jaume Colom (grandfather of Joan Cristòfor Colom) and Pere Maries, 'merchants, citizens of Barcelona', who constitute a company, on December 18, 1425, which continues the previously existing one between Guillem Colom (the Jaume's father) and the aforementioned Pere Maries. Its area of operation would be Roussillon, Provence, Liguria (Savona, Genoa), Sicily, Rhodes, Sardinia, Mallorca and Valencia. This agreement was renewed four years later, in 1429, and here the domicile of the Coloms is specified (in Banys Vells, near the Church of Santa Maria del Mar). Note that this agreement takes place seven years before the birth of Joan Cristòfor Colom (our Columbus), in 1436.”

Source: Arcadi Garcia Sanz, volume II (look into the Bibliography).

Furthermore, in my book I maintain that the Order of Rhodes offered unconditional support to the Generalitat side during the Catalan Revolution of 1462-1472, at least during the mandate of Constable Pedro of Portugal, Master of the Order of Avis. And let us remember that, according to Francisco José Morales Roca (see above), Columbus served the said Constable, Pedro of Portugal. All this would explain the banners displayed on the masts of the Santa María. In this regard, in Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 475) I state:

“As we see, the Coloms had interests, since ancient times, in Genoa and Rhodes, which could explain the birth of the bastard son of Francesc Colom (priest) in said Ligurian city, and at the same time the support of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem (based in Rhodes) to the future Admiral; first during his service to Constable Pere of Portugal, during the Catalan Revolution (1462-1472), and then—supposedly—in financing the first voyage to the Indies, in 1492. Remember that I previously formulated the hypothesis that the red cross in the sail of the ships of discovery could be the Cross of Rhodes, not that of the Order of Christ, and much less that of the Templars."

Nao Santa María, with the banners of the “green cross” (of the Order of Avis) and the “red cross” (of the Order of the Hospital, or of Rhodes).

Let's start with that of the Order of Avis, the "green cross" that landed on the island of Guanahaní on October 12, 1492. In Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 238) I expose this passage from the Navigation Diary of Christopher Columbus (October 12, 1492):

“Sacó el Almirante la bandera Real y los capitanes con dos banderas de la Cruz Verde, que llevaba el Almirante en todos los navíos por seña, con una F y una Y: encima de cada letra su corona, una de un cabo de la cruz y otra de otro“.

In Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 261) I write:

“The green cross is the emblem of the Knightly Order of Avis, of which the constable Pedro of Portugal was master: 'When his father became regency of the country [...] he immediately took care to appoint him [Pedro of Portugal] master of Avis, and in addition, granted him the dignity of constable' [Martínez Ferrando; see in the bibliography]. In Columbus's time, no other order, except the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus, displayed a green cross. It is foreseeable that the banner displayed on October 12, 1492 pays tribute to the first (to the Order of Avis) because the historical Columbus (Joan Cristòfor Colom) was in the service of Pedro of Portugal as a 'domestic'; It is not known that he was a knight of the Order of Saint Lazarus; among other reasons, because he was not a leper.”

As far as the “red cross” is concerned, this would be that of the Order of Rhodes, which, as we have seen above, financed the government of Constable Pere of Portugal in the Catalan Revolt of 1462-1472, against Fernando''the Catholic' father, John II, in a period between 1464 and 1466. The Order of Rhodes could also have financed Christopher Columbus's first trip to the Indies, as far as he was concerned. In Colón, su verdadera identidad al descubierto (page 534) I write the following:

"I must add that, rereading the book ... by Francisco José Morales Roca, I have noticed a detail that could explain why the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem (of Rhodes) gave support to the 'king intruder' Pedro of Portugal in his reign of 1464-1466, in Catalonia, and could have financed Columbus's first expedition to the Indies (based on the presence of the red cross on the main sail of the Santa María). According to Morales Roca, 'the Catalan Church took sides against King Don Juan II of Aragon and Navarra following the imprisonment of the first-born Don Carlos of Aragon' (see above). Well, between the years 1461 and 1503 the Catalans Juan de Cardona, Count of Cardona, and Jaime de la Guialtru (Geltrú?), Grand Prior of Catalonia, were lieutenants of the Grand Master of the Order of Saint John, governors of the island of Rhodes, and its defenders during the siege to which the Turks subjected it in 1480. Thus, such circumstances would explain the interest of the Order of Rhodes in supporting the side of the Generalitat during the Catalan Civil War of 1462-1472, and perhaps in subsidizing Columbus's first expedition to the Indies. Which is still an assumption.”

The connection of the Bertrans, relatives of Joan Cristòfor Colom (and therefore, of Christopher Columbus), with Rhodes is evident in this inscription of a cross of the Order of Rhodes in the castle of Gelida (belonging to the Bertrans):

Source: José Fernández.

Referenced bibliography

Bayerri Bertomeu, Enrique. Colón tal cual fue. Porter Libros, Barce­lona, 1961.

Carafí i Morera, Enric; Mauri i Martí, Alfred. El castell de Gelida. Generalitat de Catalunya, 1990.

Carrère, Claude. Barcelone, centre économique à l’époque des difficultés (1380-1462). Mouton&Co, Paris, 1967.

Casanova, Giacomo. Memorias de Jacobo Casanova de Seingalt. Editora de los Amigos del Círculo del Bibliófilo, 1979.

Città di Genova. Cristoforo Colombo, Documenti e Prove della sua appar­tenenza a Genova. 1931.

-. Cristoforo Colombo, Editione Spagnola-Francese. 1932.

Codice Diplomatico Colombo Americano, o sia, Raccolta di Documenti Originali e inediti, spettanti a Cristoforo Colombo alla scoperta et al Governo dell’America. Publicato per ordine degl” III Decurioni della Città di Genova. Dalla Stamperia e Fonderia Ponthenier, 1823.

Colón, Cristóbal. Textos y documentos completos. Relaciones de viajes, cartas y memoriales. Edición, prólogo y notas de Consuelo Varela. Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 1982.

Colón, Cristóbal. Los cuatro viajes del Almirante y su testamento. Espasa Calpe, Bue­nos Aires, 1946.

Colón, Hernando. Historia del Almirante, Océano Éxito, Instituto Gallach, Barce­lona, 1988.

Cuartas, Augusto. Apellidos Catalanes. Heráldica de Cataluña. Para­ninfo, Madrid, 1987.

Fernández de Oviedo, Gonzalo. Los viajes de Colón. Ediciones Atlas, Madrid, 1944.

Martínez Ferrando, J. Ernesto. Tragedia del insigne condestable Don Pedro de Portugal. Consejo Superior de Investigacines Científicas. Instituto Jerónimo Zurita. Madrid, 1942.

-. Pere de Portugal, «rei dels catalans». Rafael Dalmau Editor. Barce­lona, 1960.

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García Sanz, Arcadi; Madurell i Marimon, Josep Maria. Societats mercantils medievals a Barcelona. Fundació Noguera, 1986.

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Mitjana de las Doblas, Enric. «La casa dels Colom a Barcelona». But­lletí del Centre Excursionista de Catalunya, Novembre de 1931.

Morales Roca, Francisco José. Prelados, abades mitrados, dignidades capitulares y caballeros de las órdenes militares habilitados por el brazo eclesiástico en las Cortes del Principado de Cataluña. Dinastías de Trastámara y de Austria, siglos xv y xvi. Ediciones Hidalguía, 1999.

Rovere, Antonella. «Documenti della Maona di Chio (sec. XIV-XVI)». Atti della Società Ligure di Storia Patria. Nuova Serie, vol. XIX. Fasc. II.

Rovira i Tobella, Ramon. «Colom i Gelida» (y otros artículos referen­tes a la villa y castillo de Gelida). Publicado en Internet.

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Zurita, Jerónimo. Anales de la Corona de Aragón. Institución Fernando el Católico (CSIC), Zaragoza, 1985.

 

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